St. Thomas, USVI

Hi all, its been a while- I've been working, a sad excuse I know, but what can I say....I'm here now! Charlotte Amalie (pronounced Uh-mahl-ee) is the capital of the USVI's, consiting of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. St. Thomas is notoriously known to be the tourism whore of the 3 islands- and I believe that is a good way to describe it. They say more than 300 jewlrey stores exist on the island, and while that number is hard to believe- there a ton of them! The two main commercial streets are lined with them- one after the other- all seemingly selling the same thing, and using the sales tax free tagline to get eager and willing tourists in the door. Each day one of the massive cruise ships comes to dock here, sometimes 2, and the town floods with grey haired overweight rich tourists, ready to buy stuff. A weird phenomenon, that ends up strangely defining the city, and hence the island. While busy during prime time with the ship people, that streets are a desert at night. Most shops close down around 5, and all that is left are the few public drunks roaming the streets making trouble. Marijuana seems to be thought of like drinking a coke, and prostitues are not hard to find. It feels unsafe- and mostly I think becuase it is. To top it off, there seems to be some still strong segregation here, constantly brewing feelings of race tension. That being said, everytime I have asked for directions I have been treated well by the locals. On the contrast however- every forienger I talk to, seems flabergasted that I would be staying in the downtown area. An interesting dynamic for sure.

All this people stuff aside- the beaches are truly amazing here, and undoubtedly are singlehandedly bringing people to this island in droves each and every year. I found a 'local' beach yesterday, called Linqust beach- you can get there using the public transit system, which are simply pick-up trucks with converted truck beds into open air bench seating that constantly circle the island (except of course at night!). You can jump on one of these if you know the drill, and act like a local, and only pay $2 to go anywhere on the island. If- however- you opt for the the exact same type of truck with tourist on it, you will be charged $10. Locals never ride the tourists buses- or "safari's" as they are called here, and tourist seldom ride the local buses. I always like to take public transport where I am- you will definitly get a better feel for the real people who live there, when you share a ride with them...I think this applies no matter where you are in the world. Anyway- it dropped me off at the top of a hill, where a sign read "Smith Beach Park" and a dirt road lead down a hill. I walked down, avoiding the rocks and holes from my flops, scurried throught the last bit of foilage, and entered paradise. Quiet, no houses or hotels in this cove. White flour like sandy beaches greet your feet, a wonderful blue sky with intermitten big white clouds, a bright turqoise almost still ocean in front of you, dotted in the not-so-distant view with lush green volcanic islands. Really, tuely, and amazingly beautiful place. This is it- this is why they come. I spent the whole day there, swiming, relaxing, reading, and at times napping :). This is what St. Thomas is really about, or at least it should be!

After a night out with friends at XO in Red Hook, I feel like I have seen the night life, gotten to know the town, and had a glimpse of the beaches. Time to move on, I catch a ferry today to Tortola, where I start what should promise to be an amazing sailing adventure in and around the British Virgin Islands. I'm looking forward to properly learing how to sail, and soaking up all the sunshine I can, before I head back to the grey Chicago winter.

Stay tuned, hope to update you on more fun travels again soon.